Method of forming lock nuts



Jan. 30, 1951 c. w. DELANEY 2,539,899

METHOD OF FORMING LOCK NUTS Filed Jul? 18, 1945 15' 1 6 15 Ply-2 1 19.3.

1/ Q i5, I 22 2.5

INVENTOR (ha rl es (Delaney ATTORNE Patented Jan. 30, 1951 METHOD OF FORMING LOCK NUTS GharlesWanda/net?Middlehury; Conn, assignor, bymesne assignments, to Boots Aircraft Nut Corporation St'amfiord, Conn, a; corporation of Delaware Application July-18;, 1945, Serial No. 605,714

6' Claims. 1.

This invention relates tov lock nuts, employing. two threaded sections integrally joined andmovable relatively to eacl1.other,.with. one threaded section. set out. of' phase with respectto. the. other) to retain a nut upon a threaded. member re.- gardless of the amount of vibration or shock to, which it might be. subjected. More particulanln, the invention dea s with a novel method of pI'O:- duoing lock nuts of this, type and kind, as more fully hereinafter set forth. The novel features. of' the invention will be best understood from. the following description when taken together with the accompanying drawing, in which cer tain embodiments of the invention are disclosed}, and in which the separate parts are designated by'suit'able reference characters in each of the. views, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional View Qf'a nut blank or slug which I employ.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig; 1, showing the completion of the first step in the method of producing the nut.

Fig; 3 is a View similarto Fig. 4* showing the next step in' the operation.

Fig; 4 is a plan view ofthe structure as seen in. F '3.

Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic sectional views showing the method of shaping'the nutfrom the blanket" Fig. 1 to the point of producing the resuit in Fig. 2;

Figs. 7 and 8 are diagrammat c sectional views showing the steps of stabbing or shearing the nut in producing'the result shown. in Figs. 3 andi i.

Fig. 9 is a bottom plan viewof the shearing tool shown in Figs. 7 and 8; and

Fig". 10 is an enlarged sectional view of part of a nut showing the final steps in the operation. of forming the lock nut; and indicating the setting out phase in dotted lines.

The present application deals with the method of producing lock nuts of the type and kind disclosed in a companion application filed of equal date herewith and later to be identified as Serial Number 605,713, filed Ju y 18, 1945.

In carrying my invention into effect; a nut blank or slug of the general cross section shown. in Fig; 1* of the drawing is first formed in, any desired manner. This slug comprises-an enlarged tubular body I! of hexagon peripheral contour, having'abore 52" therein, the borehaving bevelled countersunkupper and lower ends, as seen at. it and Hi. Extend ng upwardlyfrom the body ll is a tapered sleeve portion the bore it off which is of greaterdiameterathan the, bore i2;

The; outer diameter of the: sleeve; is also" disposedi:

within theflatsides IF'of the body H, aswi lli appear from a consideration of Fig. 4 of the drawing;

The first step inproducing the nut consists in inwardly turning the sleeve IE to form, as seen in Fig. 2, the skirt 18 forming the'resulting' nut section, which joins the upper' end of the nut the curved wall portion 19. This result is accomplished by the dies and tools d agram matica-liyillustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. In these figures, 229 represents a bed plate having" thereon a support" 28 for the reception of the nutbod'y i I". Movable toward and from the bed plate 29 is a for-mingpin 22', aroundwhich is disposed a form-- ing or curling tool 23 having a curved recess 24, so shaped as to engage the upper edge it?" of the sleeve [5 and turn this edge inwardly and then downwardlyalong the forming 13111 22. An earlystage of this operation is shown in Fig; 5 of the drawing, where the sleeve is partially turned ill-- wardyin a manner to initially direct the end I5" against the pin- 22- in a substantially downwardly glancing manner; As the tool 23' cont nues in its downward movement, the result shown inFig'. 6', and also illustrated in Fig. 2 is accomplished. In other'words, the slii'rt l8 and wall portion 1 9 are formed. In this connection, it will be noted that the-skirt I8 terminatesat itsupper or outer end in a relat vely sharp corner 5, which produces arelatively long skirt portion 8' to receive the greatest possib e number of threads. It will also be apparent that the innerend of the skirt l3 terminates short of the upper or outer sur face 21" ofthe body IT.

The next step in the operation of forming the nut cons sts in stabbing or shearing the wall [9 at thesix cornerportions 28 of the hexagon nut body Htoform apertures 2? n the wall it, and also to form back up and'reinforcing members 39 at said corner portions". Forming the apertures. 29- in the wall i!) will give greater resiliency to said wall, Whereas the members 53 are so formed as to produce inwardly extending parts 3! arranged adiacent and in close proximity to the skirt or thread section it, to backup this sect on to resist radial stresses or strains thereon, and. particularly in backing up the' skirt it in form.- ingthe threads 32 therein, as later described.

In forming the members 31 outward y extend ing parts 3 are also formed, as clearly seen in Fig. 10 of the drawing: That is to say; parts? which are disposed outwardly of the contour of the wall 59. However; these parts are dis-' nosed; Within peripheral boundaries of the nut body (as will appear froma consideration. of; F -f 9 e a i 1 --The-stabbing or shearingoperation above re- 3 ferred to is produced from tools substantially of the type and kind diagrammatically illustrated in Figs. 7, 8 and 9. In Figs. 7 and 8 I have shown at 34 a bed plate having thereon a workpiece support 35 in which the nut, formed as shown in Fig. 2, is adapted to be placed. At 36 is shown a pin or mandrel adapted to support the wall of the skirt [8 and the wall of the body H in the stabbing or shearing operation. Spaced circumferentially around the pin or mandrel 35 are six similar shearing tools 37, each having at its lower surface a shearing portion 38 adapted to pass through the wall l9 adjacent but outwardly of the skirt [8, the tools 3'! also having a curved portion 39 adapted to expand or extend part of the metal of the wall [9 outwardly in forming the members 33.

Comparing Figs. '7 and 8, Fig. 7 showing the beginning of the shearing operation and Fig. 8 the completion thereof, it will appear that the structure of the shears 38 is such as to force some of the material of the wall I9 downwardly and inwardly to a point substantially engaging the skirt [8 in forming the members 3|. The tools 31 actually lance, shear and form to displace the wall IS in forming the inwardly extending parts 3| and the outwardly extending parts 33, while at the same time forming the apertures 29 in the Wall l9. Considering Fig. 10

of the drawing, it will a so appear that the members 3i terminate short of the surface 21 of the nut body H and engage the inner end portion of the skirt l8.

After having completed the shearing operation by the tools disclosed in Fi s. 7 and 8, the nut thus produced is now ready for the next or threading operation. It wil be apparent that in forming the skirt l8, the bore of this skirt is common to the bore 12 of the nut body, as will clearly appear from a consideration of Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawing. Threads are now form d in the body H and the skirt I8, these threads being simultaneously formed. The threads of the skirt l8 have been previously identified by the reference character 32 and the threads of the body I l are shown at 40 in Fig. 10 of the drawing. After these have been formed, the next and final step in the production of the lock nut consists in setting the nut section comprising the skirt is out of phase, and this is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 10 of the drawing.

It will be apparent that the shearing tools 31, as well as the pin 36 are supported in a suitable tool body 4! and movab'e therewith in the feed of said tools and pin toward and from the nut. In performing the operation of cutting the threads 32 and 49, the skirt I8 is backed up by the inwardly extending parts or back up members 3|, these parts or members also support and reinforce the skirt I8 when the nut is in use.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that after having produced the nut blank substantially as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing, the steps of producing the lock nut comprise first turning the sleeve l inwardly in the manner shown in Figs. 5 and 6, producing the result substantially simi ar to that shown in Fig. 2, after which the turned sleeve portion is sheared adjacent but outwardly of the skirt 18 at the corner portions 28 to form the parts or members 30, including the parts 3l33 and the resulting recesses or openings 29 in the wall portion l9. The result of this shearing operation is illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawing.

The next step consists in forming the threads 4 32 and from a single threading operation, after which the now threaded skirt I8 is set axially inwardly out of phase, in the manner indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 10 of the drawing.

A lock nut produced in accordance with the method herein defined will fu ly meet the requirements of what is known as the Preece test, in minimizing abrasive action upon the threaded member to which the nut is applied, thus obviating the removal of platings or coatings which may be applied to such threaded member. Furthermore, by reason of the structure of the wall I 9 and the skirt at the inner end thereof, a combined axial and radial movement is produced, the axial movement taking place from a point adjacent the body of the nut, that is to say, where the wall portion 19 joins the nut body. At the same time a nut is produced which incorporates the required locking engagement with the thr aded member upon which the nut is arranged.

From a descriptive sense, the stabbing or shearing operation above referred to may be described as a combined piercing and re-shaping operation, bearing in mind that the Wall portion is re-s aned to the extent of forming the parts 3| and 33.

Having fully descri ed my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of forming lock nuts, which com ises first forming a nut blank comprising a nut body having a hexagon peripheral contour and a bore and a s eeve portion extending integrally from one end of said body within the peripheral boundaries thereof, then turning said sleeve portion inwardly to form an annular skirt joining the nut body in an annular curved wall portion, the skirt having a bore in alinement with the bore of said nut body and with the inner end of the skirt terminating in spaced relation to said end of the nut body, then stabbing said curved wa l at circumferentially spaced interva s and in alinement with corner portions of the hexagon nut body to form openings and backing and reinforcing members comprising inwardly extending parts substantially abutting said skirt and outwardly extending parts arranged within peripheral boundaries of the nut body, then forming a thread in the bore of said nut body and skirt, and then setting the skirt out of phase with the nut body.

2. The method of forming lock nuts, which comprises first forming a nut blank comprising a nut body having a hexagon peripheral contour and a bore and a sleeve portion extending integrally from one end of said body within peripheral boundaries thereof, then turning said sleeve portion inwardly to form an annular skirt joining the nut body in an annular curved wall portion, the skirt having a continuous inward curvature from the end of the nut body to the outer end of said skirt, the skirt having a bore in alinement withthe bore of said nut body and with the inner end of the skirt terminating in spaced relation to said end of the nut body, then stabbing said curved wall at circumferentially spaced intervals and in alinement with corner portions of the hexagon nut body to form openings and backing and reinforcing members comprising inwardly extending parts substantially abutting said skirt and outwardly extending parts arrangedwithin peripheral boundaries of the nut body; then forming a thread inthe bore of said nut body and skirt, and then setting the skirt out of phase with the nut body.

3. The method of forming lock nuts, which comprises first forming a nut blank comprising to said end of the nut body, then forming circumferentially spaced openings in the curved wall in alinement with corner portions of said hexagon body and simultaneously forming skirt reinforcing and backing members, then simultaneously forming threads in the bores of the nut body and said skirt, and then setting the threaded skirt out of phase with respect to the threaded nut body.

4. The method of producing lock nuts of the class described, which comprises forming a nut blank comprising a nut body with a thin wall sleeve extending from one end thereof within peripheral boundaries of said body, then turning the sleeve inwardly upon a forming pin to form a relatively long skirt portion with the innor end thereof spaced from said end of the nut body and with the outer end thereof joining.a curved annular wall in a small radius to provide a relatively long bore in the skirt and in alinement with the bore of the nut body, forming ciroumferentially spaced openings in said curved wall to provide greater resiliency in the support of the skirt portion by said wall, utilizing material removed from the wall in forming said integrally joining the body portion in an annular wall, then simultaneously stabbing outer portions only of said annular wall outwardly of the skirt at circumferentially spaced intervals to form a plurality of openings in said wall disposed in alinement with corner portions of-the nut body and simultaneously forming backing members of the stabbed material of said wall abutting said skirt, then forming threads in the nut body and skirt, and then setting the threaded skirt out of phase with respect to the threaded nut body. 1

6. The method of forming lock nuts, which comprises first producing a nut blank comprising a nut body of predetermined peripheral contour and a bore therein with a sleeve extending from one end of the nut body within peripheral bounds thereof, then turning the sleeve inwardly upon a forming pin supported in the bore of said nut body and projecting from said end thereof to form a long skirt portion having a bore common to the bore of said nut body with the skirt portion spaced from said end of the nut body and joining the nut body in a curved circumferential wall, then stabbing the circumferential wall at a predetermined number of circumferential sections, while supporting the nut body in supports including a mandrel fitting the bore of said body and said skirt, to form openings in said wall and backing members engaging the inner end portion of the skirt, then cutting a thread in the bore of said body and skirt, and then setting the threaded skirt out of phase with respect to said threaded body.

CHARLES W. DELANEY.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Merolle Nov. 22, 1938 Luce June 1, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain June 11,1941

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